Lance Krall is the funniest person I know, and I hardly know the guy. Best known for playing DJ Lance on VH1's Free Radio and the extremely flaming Kip on The Joe Schmo Show, he specializes in irritating, slightly retarded but ultimately lovable characters - not unlike his true-life self. He is a new father, has been a competitive martial artist, and looks great in tights, as you can see above. His mother spied on the North Vietnamese for the American government during the war and I hope will someday be interviewed here.
Three Questions: Did you get to work closely with Steve Martin on The Downer Channel? Had his work had much of an impact on your own style, or did it change the way you worked after your experience at TDC? I'm assuming you may have been a little starstruck since this was your first big break after your success with Whole World.
Lance Krall: I worked with Steve Martin quite a bit when I was filming The Downer Channel. As you alluded to in your question, this was my first big gig and I was beyond starstruck. Steve has kind of a guarded personality, so none of us ever really got to know him very well outside of work. He was always encouraging and respectful on the set, but there wasn't any "Hey kids, let's get some drinks and yuk it up after we wrap." Actually, he took us all out for drinks once. He had a bottled water and left after about ten minutes. Like I said, very nice, but guarded.
I think the biggest impact that The Downer Channel had on me was that it taught me to trust my instincts. There were a lot of times on the set where I would just defer to people that I perceived had more experience than me, including Steve. Afterwards, I realized that Steve Martin was just really good at being Steve Martin. His direction and suggestions were right for him, but not necessarily right for me. This was pretty instrumental in giving me the confidence to create my own work.
3Q: Could you actually be friends with Kip or Lance in real life? Aside from your racist twitter alter-ego, what's the most irritating character you've ever played?
LK: I love DJ Lance. He is basically my wife with a Member's Only jacket. I don't know if I would want to hang with Kip, but apparently everyone that worked on Joe Schmo did. We had to stay in character on and off the set for two weeks when we shot the show. When it was finally over, everyone finally met the real, non Cuban, straight me. They were disappointed. I kept hearing, "Awww, I miss Kip. You're boring. Be him again!" Fuck those guys.
Probably the most irritating character I ever played was myself on The Cindy Margolis Show. UN WATCH ABLE.
3Q: With your new child and your recent professional successes, do you still have time to compete in martial arts competitions? What is your training/practice regimen like?
LK: I stopped competing in 1996, but I still train. I am actually gearing up for a martial arts comedy so I am training quite a bit. I can still kick most people's asses on any given day, which makes me very happy inside.
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